Chapter 102

Unsung Heroes 8

Vermilion City Police Department

SWAT Division

Lunch Time

Chief Inspector Jinny Bravo ate alone in her office.

Despite having her favorite 1 pound burger for lunch, it did little to douse the flames of rage that surged through her veins.

She was in the precinct when the incident that tore her twin sister apart happened.

She pretty much abandoned her post and rushed to the hospital when the news reached her.

The sight of her sister with one leg missing infuriated her to no end.

She wanted payback. Oh boy does she want revenge!

In fact, the moment she returned to HQ, she immediately formed a team that would investigate the incident.

The Vermilion City Police Officers was filled with many good people that had a very solid bond of camaraderie with their fellow officers.

While a small minority of corrupt fools has turned the entire force into a media punch bag, their commitment to law and order was strong.

Thus, when a call from the higher ups forced them to stop their investigation, the entire force was livid.

It seemed that some politician or extremely rich bastard has butted in and stronged armed the higher ups to do their bidding.

The higher ups even went as far as send a group of inspectors to insure that the investigation was put on ice.

The officers obeyed. They didnt want to lose their job after all.

But that did not mean that the resentment was quelled.

Jinny Bravo took a large bite out of her burger as she worked her brain into overdrive. There has to be something she could do to get back at the bastards.

“Hello Officer Jinny Bravo.”

The shocked Jinny searched for the source of the mysterious voice but found no one.

“I’m on the building across the street. I’m using a directional microphone and speaker. Feel free to talk normally. I’ll hear you.” said the voice.

Jinny squinted her eyes outside her open window.

At first, she saw nothing, but a hooded figure waved at her from a building that was under repair from a recent superhero brawl.

Once the hooded figure confirmed that Jinny has spotted him, he went back to the shadows and remained unseen.

“Who are you?” asked Jinny as she pretended to return to her burger.

“Theodore Lorne. I’m sure you know why I’m here” replied the voice.

“Bloody Mary’s brother-in-law…. Finally, some good news.” said Jinny.

She knew of Theodore Lorne from the Valkyrie Incident. She also knew that he had a large military force that was not connected to the bureaucracy.

While she and her officers were bound by orders, Theodore Lorne was free. He may be able to move while they couldn't.

“I have a request. I want to kill a bunch of people that hurt my sister-in-law, but I came into this fiasco too little too late. I barely have any information to go on and your sister told me to go to you for help” said Theo.

“You talked to my sister? How is she?” asked Jinny with a voice filled with worry.

“She’s fine. She and the rest of the 81st have been moved to my company building where they will get the best military grade cybernetics I can offer. I am here to negotiate for the bill”

Jinny gulped at Theo’s business-like demeanor.

She knew that Theo’s cybernetics was considerably cheaper than the standard offerings, but military grade cybernetic would certainly have a relatively painful price tag.

“What do you want?” asked Jinny

“All the information you have on this incident. In return, the cybernetics of your sister and all of the 81st will be given free of charge.” replied Theo.

Initially, Jinny was ecstatic.

Not only was her sister going to be able to walk again, she would also be better than new.

But as she reflected on Theo’s tone, it became clear to her that Theo was equally hurt by the incident.

He wanted revenge and he would gladly pay any price to get it.

Free military cybernetics was chump change compared to the chance of strangling the ones that hurt his family.

Jinny understood this feeling well.

“Deal. I’ll tell you what we know at the moment.” said Jinny.

“Thank you.”

“Don't thank me yet. We may have some inklings of a trail, but it’s pretty much breadcrumbs at this point. Nothing points to anything certain at the moment.”

“That’s leagues better than where I’m at right now. Tell me everything you know.”

With a deep sigh, Jinny began doing something she has never done in her entire career, and that was to break the law.

“First up, there’s a massive cover up effort going on right now.” said Jinny

“I noticed. Not a single mention in the news. While gunfights happen so frequently that the news don't even bother mentioning them anymore, the target was a rich guy named Alial Milza. No way such a big scoop would go unnoticed.” replied Theo.

“Unfortunately, it goes beyond that”

“... I dont like the sound of that...”

“Tell me about it. We started our investigation about 3 hours after the incident transpired. As per usual SOP, we gather testimonies, eye witness accounts, the whole shebang. It didn't really amount to much given how the incident barely lasted 2 minutes. It happened way too quick for anyone to get a good glimpse at anything. However, as we were about to go to Alial Milza to ask him some questions, the higher ups came down on us hard. They told us to stop the investigation because someone else is assigned to it. They even went as far as to send inspectors to make sure that we bury the investigation. From where you’re standing, I think you can spot the ugly broad with pink hair. That’s the inspector from the higher ups”

Theo was silent for a moment, then began speaking again.

“The one with the facial piercings?”

“Yup that one. Stupid smug bitch. I dont know how an incompetent brat like her got into the force.”

“I see… What’s your take on this?”

“Something is off. My direct superior assigned her to my team. I know for a fact that my superior is a stand up guy with unflinching morals and a man that respects the law. No way he’ll allow a two bit piece of shit like smug bitch to set foot on a place where people actually did their work.” said Jinny with a sigh.

“Someone is strong arming your superior?” asked Theo

“That’s what my gut is telling me. No solid evidence unfortunately.”

“I see… then we’re dealing with something beyond our paygrade here. Probably a group that has something to gain with Alial Milza’s death.”

“That much is obvious.”

“And odds are, we at the bottom have no means to touch them.”

“No shit sherlock, but that’s not what matters now, right?”

“Yeah. Hunting the ones that hurt our family comes first. The puppet masters will follow soon enough.”

“But what do we do? We dont even know how they’re moving about. If only the higher ups came at least a day later, we could have completely investigated the crime scene.”

“Through the sewers. I’ve been through the crime scene a few hours ago. The attackers burned their equipment right on the spot, but they failed to get rid of some of their prints. Those prints had sewer muk on them.”

“Sewers…. Shit. In normal cases, I can rustle up a team to head in there and track them down.”

“Really? I didnt know the sewers were under your jurisdiction.”

“This is Vermilion City. Lot’s of criminals use the sewers as an escape route and a hiding spot. My district is known as one of the worlds finest. No shithole can stop us…. But bureaucracy can…. Damn it.”

“No worries. My men are already searching the sewers as we speak. But I do want to know who I’m dealing with in advance. And that’s where your group comes in.”

“What do you want us to do? Just so you know, aside from regular patrols, our hands are tied in this case.”

“That’s exactly what I need. You guys got specialists in sewers warfare right? Ask them to point out the usual exits used by criminals and set up surveillance. Ideally, those near areas where they can buy food. Gather surveillance videos from any cameras in those areas. Also, gather any video feeds on the checkout counters themselves. Do it as fast as possible. We dont want them to get away.”

“I dont mind. We’re in the process of doing that for another case anyway, so no problems on that front. The problem is the sheer amount of video feeds to go through. Even if my entire team is on this, it would take us days before we can find anything.”

“Dont worry. I have some tricks up my sleeve for that one. Just get as much as possible as fast as possible and send it to my company building ASAP. I’ll handle the rest.”

“I see. Understand. I’ll also a couple of my sewers guys with you just in case.”

“I wont stop you, but I suggest you make sure to keep your men’s face hidden.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s a big chance that Crow and her team might interfere with our revenge.”

Jinny Bravo gulped at Theo’s words.

She has seen superheroes fight and boy were they amazing. Even their newbies were shockingly good at what they do.

Sending in her men against the ambushers + superheroes was as if she was dooming them to either injury or death.

“Lorne… if my men gets hurt…?” asked Jinny

“Send them to my company. They’ll get the same treatment as the 81st.” replied Theo almost instantly.

“Oh thank god. It’s hard to find people who actually dont scream at us these days”

“Despite what the liars in the media say, I know the police department is filled with good people. And good people should be rewarded for their bravery.”

-:-

Later that night

Theo’s Company building.

Theo sat silently on his desk at the top floor of the company building.

With his eyes shut tight, it was a common misconception that his frustration has gotten to him.

But this was not the case.

An hour ago, Theo finally received the massive compilation of video feeds from the police department.

The ones that delivered it were 3 individuals that were ready and willing to rumble.

All they needed now was to know who their prey was and how to find them

There were practically hundreds of hours worth of videos that he had to shuffle through in order to find what he needed to find.

Normally, this would definitely take days, or even weeks.

But to Theo, this wont even take an hour.

Connected to a port at the back of Theo’s neck was a large cable. This in turn was connected to the powerful quantum computer mainframe hidden underneath the building.

Theo’s brain and the quantum computer ran everything from facial recognition, voice recognition, body analysis programs, and even the kitchen sink in order to find some form of hint in the sea of people.

And he did this all while analyzing all of the videos simultaneously.

Most of the people in the videos could be identified via government census, social security records and police criminal reports.

He focused on those who couldnt be identified and followed their trail.

A few of the unidentifiable ones wore hooded jackets and only went to small convenience stores to buy food that were enough for 20-30 people.

They did this multiple times a day in order to avoid suspicious. They also bought from one convenience story only once before moving to the next in a completely different district in the city.

Smart moves.

And for some reason, the clerks that served them blushed the moment they saw their faces.

The thing that sealed the deal was that their return path always led into a massive sewer tunnel.

However, the clue Theo had been waiting for came from a video where the wind accidentally blew the hood of one of these people.

While he couldn't tell what the girl looked like due to the relatively bath resolution of the video taken from an ATM machine and her general distance from it, but he could make out one very distinct feature.

Her ears were sharp and was about 4-5 inches long.

“High Elves huh…. Interesting.”